John

I am a pianist and composer. In 2017 I received a scholarship to study for an MA in composition at the Royal Academy of Music which I completed in 2019. I graduated in 2016 with a first class BA in music from Oxford university. I am able to teach piano, theory, composition, GCSE and A level music. I principally teach using the ABRSM syllabus. However, my lessons are not a simple run through the ABRSM syllabus. My aim is to get pupils more involved in musical life through creativity. This is achieved through composition, improvisation, listening to recordings, going to concerts, playing duets and chamber music with other students. I am able to teach pupils how to write in any style of music from Mozart to Nirvana and to find their own style. I have found this method to be far more successful at inspiring pupils to practice.

Availability: Monday 15.00 - 21.00
Tuesday 19.30 - 21.00
Wednesday 15.00 - 18.00
Thursday 15.00 - 18.00
Friday 15.00 - 21.00

Willing to travel: 5 miles

Experience: Since April 2017 I have been teaching piano, theory and composition to both children and adults from ages 5 to 60. I have taught complete beginners, grades 1 through to 8, GCSE and A level music. Before attending university I worked for a year at the Zelda School of Music in Plymouth. There I gained experience of both one to one and small group tuition. I taught from beginner up to grade 6 piano to primary school aged pupils and composition to GCSE pupils. I principally taught from the ABRSM syllabus for piano and theory and constructed my own composition tuition around Arnold Schoenberg`s book Models for Beginners in Composition. This method takes the pupil from composing two bar melodies over tonic and dominant harmonies to writing a thirty-two bar minuet in the classical style.

DBS Check: Yes